Massive airstrikes hit Tehran with explosions last night as Donald Trump backtracked on his promise to end the war ‘very soon’.
The sky above the Iranian capital glowed amid the latest wave of US-Israeli attacks proving the US President’s vow to ‘go further’ in the conflict was serious.
Mr Trump had earlier insisted war in the Middle East was ‘pretty much’ over and claimed the operation launched 10 days ago was ‘very far’ ahead of schedule.
The American President even described the massive US and Israeli onslaught as a ‘short-term excursion’ which will be ‘finished pretty quickly’.
But further remarks betrayed Mr Trump’s willingness to keep the war with Iran going, as he added: ‘We’ve already won in many ways but we haven’t won enough…we’re going to go further.’
Videos last night showed further strikes on the country causing ‘unusually large’ explosions as the conflict continued in earnest.
In one, a wide glow appeared over western Tehran, a phenomenon believed by some analysts to be caused by an attack on a power distribution centre.
Loud bangs could be heard elsewhere in the city, while strikes also rained down on other parts of the country including Karaj.
Donald Trump insisted war in the Middle East was ‘pretty much’ over and claimed the operation launched 10 days ago was ‘very far’ ahead of schedule
But massive airstrikes hit Tehran with explosions last night as the US President backtracked on his promise to end the war ‘very soon’
An orange flash illuminates the night sky in Tehran amid the latest wave of US-Israeli attacks proving Mr Trump’s vow to ‘go further’ in the conflict was serious
The latest wave came after Mr Trump claimed, as B-52 bombers arrived in Britain ready to be called into action, that Iran had ‘nothing left’.
Initial US estimates had suggested the conflict could drag on for anywhere between two weeks and two months
He said: ‘I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force.
‘Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones.
‘If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.’
Mr Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin for an hour yesterday about the conflict in a conversation that was described as ‘frank and businesslike’ by Moscow.
While Tehran promised to increase the force and frequency of its missile launches, the President warned: ‘They’ve shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it’s going to be the end of that country.’
Later, he told Republicans gathered in Miami: ‘We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. Then, I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion.’
He claimed: ‘We’re going to have a much safer world as soon as it’s finished, and it’s going to be finished pretty quickly.’
Mr Trump also repeated the assertion that the US action had been pre-emptive. He declared: ‘Within a week they were going to attack us 100 per cent. They were ready. They had all these missiles, far more than anyone thought.’
He told reporters that the US has left some of the ‘most important targets’ but these could be taken ‘out in one day’.
When asked again about the end of the war, Mr Trump said it will end ‘soon’ but not this week. He also dismissed the process used to elect Iran’s new leader, saying: ‘If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.’
He said of his call with Mr Putin that the Russian leader ‘wants to be very constructive’. They spoke about the ‘never ending fight’ in Ukraine, and he told Putin he ‘could be more helpful’.
The US military said it has struck more than 5,000 Iranian targets and destroyed 50 vessels since Operation Epic Fury began.
In one video, a wide glow appeared over western Tehran, a phenomenon believed by some analysts to be caused by an attack on a power distribution centre
In other developments yesterday:
- The war threatened to push Britain into a new cost-of-living crisis with petrol, energy bills and mortgage rates all set to rise;
- Terrified residents of Tehran told the Daily Mail they feared the new hardline Ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, would prove ‘just as bad as his father’;
- A US intelligence assessment from before the start of the war found military intervention alone was not likely to lead to regime change in the Islamic Republic;
- Putin offered his unwavering support to the new Supreme Leader and warned ‘the end of the world is upon us’;
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Iran’s dominant military, economic and political force – last night said oil tankers of any Arab or European country that expels the ambassadors of Israel and the US will, from today, be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz;
- Turkey’s defence ministry said Nato defences intercepted a ballistic missile that entered the country’s airspace after being fired by its former allies in Tehran;
- President Trump praised Australia after five members of the Iranian women’s football team were granted asylum after being branded ‘traitors’ for taking a stance against the regime;
- An audit of UK universities found 27 had seen students publicly mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war.
Meanwhile, the UK was left humiliated by French President Emmanuel Macron who ordered an ‘unprecedented’ deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East as Britain went another day without sending a single ship into the region.
Mr Trump’s remarks reassured a stock market which had endured a brutal few days, with US oil plunging to $86 per barrel from $91 after he floated a takeover of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow closed up 200 points after dropping nearly 900 points at its session low, while the S&P jumped 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq rebounded to 1.4 per cent after crashing by as much as 1.5 percent.
When asked about the Strait last night, Mr Trump responded that he is ‘thinking about taking it over’ as oil tankers remain stuck in the Persian Gulf.
The latest wave came after Mr Trump claimed, as B-52 bombers arrived in Britain ready to be called into action, pictured, that Iran had ‘nothing left’
Mr Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin, pictured yesterday, for an hour about the conflict in a conversation that was described as ‘frank and businesslike’ by Moscow
He told a Republican members conference in Doral earlier in the afternoon that he expected the conflict to be over soon – after last week warning it could run beyond its original four-week timescale.
‘We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion,’ Trump said. ‘How good is our military, right? Amazing.’
He then repeated the chant, ‘Short-term. Short-term, to the crowd.
And when quizzed about Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Mr Trump told the New York Post: ‘I have no message for him. None, whatsoever.’
The US President had said earlier on Monday he was ‘not happy with’ Khamenei as the Islamic regime’s new dictator.
Responding to a question about what he would do to the leader, Mr Trump said: ‘Not going to tell you…Not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him.’
He went further by telling close aides he would support killing Iran’s new supreme leader if he refuses to abandon the country’s nuclear program.
Mojtaba, 56, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was appointed by the regime’s 88-person assembly on Sunday and announced as his successor, despite previous opposition from his father.
The ‘vengeful’ hardline cleric is already marked for assassination by Israel, which vowed to ‘eliminate’ whoever succeeded the slain Ayatollah and killed Mojtaba’s wife Zahra Haddad-Adel in strikes on the first day of the conflict.
Mojtaba is described as a hardline fundamentalist with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The President has previously vowed that he would kill any successor of Iran’s leadership who assumed power without his permission.
Mr Trump earlier publicly pleaded with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to personally intervene into the case of five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who had escaped from their Gold Coast hotel on Monday night in a desperate bid to avoid returning home, where they faced possible persecution over their refusal to sing the Iranian national anthem.
Hours later, they were granted asylum in Australia following a secret late night operation by Australian Federal Police to smuggle them out of their hotel.
The squad was seen making what appeared to be an ‘SOS’ hand signal, a closed fist with the thumb underneath the fingers, on their team bus after their Asian Cup campaign ended on Sunday night.
Terrified residents of Tehran told the Daily Mail they feared the new hardline Ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, would prove ‘just as bad as his father’
Members of the Iranian women’s soccer team have sought asylum in Australia
Iran’s state media criticised the team’s boycott of the anthem before their Asian Cup opener against South Korea and labelled them ‘wartime traitors’ who must be dealt with severely.
Team captain Zahra Ghanbari, Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi are now under federal police protection at a safe house in Brisbane.
It’s understood authorities helped the players slip past their handlers and other heavy security from their hotel in a blacked-out van just before 7pm on Monday, following two days of secret meetings.
Iranian authorities frantically searched for the players that night, unaware they were being granted humanitarian visas by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
It’s understood that at least three other Iranian players are now missing with their whereabouts unknown.
Australian officials held private meetings with Iranian players after their final Asian Cup match on Sunday night.
‘There has been a lot of work that’s been going on in recent days to make sure that we had the maximum number of opportunities for these women to know that they could seek assistance if they wanted to, and to have maximum number of opportunities to directly seek that assistance,’ Mr Burke told reporters on Tuesday.
‘In the very early hours of yesterday morning, the conversation started in earnest.
‘Once that happened during the course of yesterday, it was made clear that there were five women who wanted to be able to stay in Australia.
‘I signed off last night for their applications to go onto humanitarian visas, and a little bit after 1.30am this morning, the processing was completed by the Department of Home Affairs.’
